An Update on the Girls January 7, 2009

Faith is getting all E’s in school, E’s are the same as A’s at her school, her teacher of course is in love with her, she is growing up so much, starting to even look like a pre-teen, pretty different from the 6 year old that I first met! We are going to Disney on Ice on Thursday and she is totally pumped! That’s all she can talk about now. She found out this year that there is no Santa, that was pretty rough. Then she just decided that she was going to still believe in him and just think that adults just don’t believe in him. She’s something!:)

Mandolin is now 4 months and 2 weeks old! She is getting big! She is starting to not look like a newborn anymore. She can now roll over, laugh, smile, raise her upper body when she is on her tummy, and has learned that standing is way more fun than sitting so majority of the time when you hold her she wants to be standing. She is still a joy, and has learned to talk (baby talk that is) She gets louder everyday. She has become so much more aware of the things around her. She really has come out of her shell the past couple of weeks.

Holoidays January 7, 2009

Our Christmas was the best Christmas we had had together. We decided to make Christmas more about Christ than presents. It worked amazingly. We did 7 days of Christmas, where the girls each got a present everyday and as the days went on the presents increased in dollar amount. Faith loved it! Mandolin didn’t have a clue what was going on, and Bobby and I really enjoyed everyday! In the end Faith and Mandolin both got things that they needed and a few things that were not completely necessary but fun!

Bobby and I continued our tradition of not spending more than $10 on each other and it is still amazing. We decided that nobody gets as great of presents as me and him do for each other. (personal opinion!) He handmade me a jewelry box, and it was precious, since we were dating he said he wanted to get me a jewelry box because I am always losing jewelry, so every time we were somewhere with jewelry boxes he would just look at them, and of course we never had the money for one,  but I got a jewelry box better than any jewelry box I had ever seen. He took the time to hand make me this one. I had journaled for him for one month, starting on November 25th, every day, I just went over the day and told him the things that I loved about him through that day. He really liked it. I was glad!

New Years was normal, we decided to make date night on New Year’s eve this week, so the girls went to Grandma Debbie’s and Grandpa Tony’s and we went to Applebees, and to a movie, and fell asleep at 1130…oops! Faith was pretty tired at mom and dad’s and from what I hear she was too tired to go bang pots and pans so she asked if she could just say clang clang instead!:) She’s so cute!

Overall our holiday season was great! It was a whole new experience with a baby. I loved every minute of it. It is truly amazing to watch Mandolin experience things for the first time, it is my new favorite thing. I can’t wait to take her to the zoo this summer and see her experience seeing all the animals for the first time!(random thought lol)

Materialism November 17, 2008

I don’t know why this is so much on my mind lately, it could be due to the commercialism of Christmas, the fact that now Christmas really in most people’s mind has nothing to do with Christ our saviors birth, but has to do with how many presents people are getting.

I have decided to not let my possessions own me, to not let my want for materialistic items make me unhappy. I am not going to be defined by or made to feel bad because of the name brand that I am wearing or  the restaurants I haven’t been to, nor will I raise my children to be that way. Materialism makes me sick especially to see it in the Christian faith, where it is clearly and obviously wrong.

1Timothy  6-8 A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that’s enough.(the Message)

God has planned so much more for us than to be simply defined by our possessions. God has created us to be complex. I hate it that people (especially youth) feel like they are worthless or less valuable than someone who can afford THINGS. I want to help the less fortunate, I want to make them feel like they are just as valuable than those who can afford THINGS. I want to be able to geniunely love people, without judging them or having an “agenda”. I want to be myself, not who everyone else wants me to be, I don’t want to get caught up in shallow conversations about commercialism, I want to know people’s hearts, when I ask someone how they are doing I want to listen to their response, really listen. I know this is probably a lot of rambling to most of you but it is how I feel and felt i needed to blog about it, thanks for reading!

Bobby-hold me accountable.

To my husband… November 13, 2008

I was just thinking about what my life would be like without my husband. It makes me sad. I can’t imagine my life without him in it. He is the biblical example of what a husband should be. He makes my days 100 times better than what they would be without him. He has blessed me with a beautiful daughter who has given me a new purpose in life and he loves me unconditionally. Really…unconditionally. His love for me is like a romance novel that you can only read, and not imagine living a life like that. He makes my everyday a fairytale. And you may think to yourself, now Erin you are being dramatic, but I am not. He is everything I have ever dreamed of. He puts up with me in my crazy insecure times and enjoys me when I am not those things!:) He has given me a security and a hope that I have never known before. He makes me me. He makes me comfortable with being who God made me to be and I love that about him. He hates it when I am hurt or someone else has hurt me almost like he is hurt himself, he is amazing. I know I’ve blogged about him before but today is  a new day and I love him in a whole bigger and better way than I did when I wrote about him before.

Side note: Mandolin is sleeping through the night and smiling. She is still a great baby with very seldom crying, she makes having a baby seem like a piece of cake!

Just an update… October 9, 2008

Hey everyone it’s been a while. I have been a little busy! Mandolin will be seven weeks old tomorrow. I can’t believe it, this time has flown by. The last time I wrote about her my heart was just overflowing with love, I didn’t know I could love her anymore and then each day came. I have gotten to know her better, and she has shown some of herself in the past several weeks. She is a great baby, does she cry ? yes, does she fuss? Yes, is she really really noisey sometimes? Definitely, But, she makes me smile all the time, she makes me giggle like a little girl, she makes me be the most uninhibited I have ever been in my life, she is one of the best and biggest blessings God has ever trusted me with. Here I sit getting emotional thinking about how much I love her, and how she has turned my life upside down, and I will never be the same. But enough gooshy stuff, she smiled for the first time last week, that was ridiculous!:) Talk about my heart melting! She laughs in her sleep every so often and it is the sweetest thing! She is going to be a strawberry for halloween (Thank you to Megan!), I am so excited about that! Let’s see, what else is new? Faith wants to be some character off of Camp Rock, the costume is alot like what she wears everyday, but thats what she wants so I’m ok with it (It will make for a cheap costume!) she is in 3rd grade, and is doing great. She gets to ride the bus to school and home most days, which makes her pretty big stuff! I think she will really enjoy Mandolin alot more when she gets a bit bigger and isn’t so delicate, she is going to make such a great big sister! Bobby is really doing lots of cool things with the youth, we just got done with Battle of the Airbands, that was fun. He is doing some video and sound install in Wayne City at a new church there, that was a blessing! Me? I am staying at home with Mandolin everyday and love my life soo much. I think that about covers it. Thanks for stopping by.

-Erin

So Incredible September 3, 2008

I think I may be in trouble, I am so much in love with Mandolin. I would rather stay awake all night and stare at her than sleep. I’d rather hold her in my arms and hug her than eat. I hate leaving her to go to the bathroom because I don’t want to miss anything. This is nothing like I ever imagined. I had no idea how my life was about to change. To have something that depends on me 24 hours a day, is one of the most amazing feeling I have ever felt.  To feel her hand squeeze my finger brings me to tears. Hearing her cry breaks my heart, so I do anything I can to prevent it, Bobby says that needs to change, so I can get some sleep!:) Through having mandolin I have fell more in love with my husband watching him be such an incredible care giver and taking care of the house and just showing so much love towards me. Also, I have learned to be a better mother to Faith, I have learned that maternal love that I thought I understood before but had no idea what it was as it turns out. I have learned to be comfortable in my own skin because there are way more important things in life than how I look. I sit here typing with Mandolin laying on my stomach and it all feels like such a dream, my life feels like such a dream. Mom called me last night after hearing the Aerosmith song I don’t wanna miss a thing and I looked up the lyrics and wow it is so much what I feel, I know it may be a corny and old song but the chorus is exactly how I feel:

Don’t wanna close my eyes
Don’t wanna fall asleep
‘Cause I’d miss you, baby
And I don’t wanna miss a thing
‘Cause even when I dream of you
The sweetest dream will never do
‘Cause I’d still miss you, baby
And I don’t wanna miss a thing

Update August 30, 2008

Hello everyone, it’s been a while and I don’t have much time right now but I just wanted to do a quick update. I’m completely and udderly smitten by a beautiful little girl named Mandolin. I think that about covers it!:) She is everything I dreamed she’d be and more. She makes my heart so full of love that it almost hurts. Thank you for all your prayers and love. God has blessed us so much with her little life, and I am truly honored to be able to call myself her mommy.

Mandolin Kay Mooney August 26, 2008

Random… August 20, 2008

I found this quote today and it is by far my most favorite it says: “You know your in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams” -Dr. Seuss. I love that. That is exactly how I feel. I would rather go a hundred sleepless nights and get to hang out with my family than sleep through those nights and miss out on the amazing thing I get to call my life. That was random huh?

Here’s more random in case you didn’t know how Mandolin got her name, when Bobby and I were dating actually during a youth conference we went to, he listened to the new Sister Hazel album for the majority of the time. When we got back we had a date on that Sunday night and he asked if he could play a song for me and it was Mandolin Moon by Sister Hazel. So when it came time to think about names the name Mandolin came up because of our song. WE LOVED IT! How crazy, her name will be Mandolin Mooney. How perfect, she is a product of our love for one another, and this song was a part of our love for one another. Also, majority of our wedding music was Sister Hazel songs because it was kind of the sound track of our relationship. Now to listen to the song in terms of waiting for Mandolin to get here it is kind of cute! But I’ve posted a link below if you want to listen to it!

Mandolin Moon by Sister Hazel

It’s Official! August 19, 2008

We went to the dr. yesterday and he came in talking about how most first time moms last till their due date but he went ahead and checked me yesterday and I think was a little surprised that I was already thinning(sorry to be graphic!)! So….he set the date! We have to be at the hospital on Sept. 4th at 6 in the morning!! He also said make sure you pack a bag today, it could be sooner! Finally, it is really happening! We are going to finally get to meet Mandolin! How exciting/scary! I am absolutely beside myself, I realize that this happens everyday that people have babies but I want to shout it from the roof top that I am having a baby girl in 16 days!!! Keep us in your prayers during this time, that I will have peace that God has trusted me with this precious girl and has equipped me to be a good mommy to Mandolin, and that everything will go well with the labor and delivery and that Mandolin will be a healthy baby girl. But I just wanted to update everyone! Well, now I need to go prepare our nest a little bit! Thanks for staying updated with us!